


Living as One // one shots

by friendly_bee



Category: South Park
Genre: But he cares for Clyde in his own way, Clyde Donovan being stubborn, Clyde can though and helps out, Clyde thinks about his first mama sometimes, Craig is a good best friend, Creek is minor, Eric Cartman Being An Asshole, Eric can be a good step brother, Eric cant cook to save his life, Liane is a good mom, Or At Least Attempt To, Roger is a good dad, Tyde is major in ch4, but he cares for Cartman as well, cartman says "excuse my french", clyde frog makes an appearance, clyde is an embarrassed mess, eric is a protective step brother, eric is supportive but doesn't show it, tags will be added later for other chapters, they make homemade chocolates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-12-09 18:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20999288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendly_bee/pseuds/friendly_bee
Summary: South Park stepbrothers au- - -Clyde Donovan and Eric Cartman are now step brothers. Even with their objections and fights at first, soon enough they started to appreciate one another and even develop a brotherly bond.- - -This will be a collection of one shots about the lives of Clyde and Eric living together and about their dynamic





	1. Not Allowed

**Author's Note:**

> In this part, Clyde gets picked on by a kid and causes him to cry. Cartman finds Clyde crying in his room one day about the incident and decides to do something about it. They are in 6th grade (so around 11-12 years old). Also this is my first time writing South Park so I'm sorry if this is ooc!!

Clyde sat in his room, trying his best to focus on his homework. It was difficult though considering what happened that day. 

It was in math, his least favorite class. He was called on in class to answer a question. Not paying attention, he ended up blurting out a random number and it caused kids to laugh at him. He looked away in shame, but the situation was forgotten about like it always was. Or so he thought. After class a kid he faintly recognized a kid that sat near the front of his math class walked up to him in a cocky manner. "Are you seriously that fucking dumb? Like some on, you should get sent back to elementary school or something you dumbass.." The kid laughed, shoving into Clyde before walking in another direction, probably to his next class. The sudden force caused the brunette to stumble into a locker, the noise turning a few questioning heads. What Clyde didnt notice was that one of the turning heads was his step-brother Eric Cartman.

Before he knew it, the math problems in front of Clyde started to become blurry as his eyes filled with tears. Academics and grades were always a soft spot for Clyde that most people didnt know about. It stemmed from when Mr. Garrison called him a retard and it stuck with him ever since. What was even more frustrating was that his homework in front of him was so confusing and complicated that it made him feel like his elementary school was calling his name and that he was proving the mean kid right. 

He leaned against the head of his bed after setting his homework on his nightstand, crying away his negative feelings. Before he could let out another sob, he was cut off by a harsh knock and Eric letting himself in without warning. Clyde quickly wiped away his tears, not wanting to be made fun of for crying. 

"Dude shut up, I'm on a call with my friends but I can't hear them over your loud-ass sobbing!" Eric groaned, holding his phone in his hand. Clyde just stared back with sad eyes, lip quivering. Cartman stared back, irritation slowly draining from his face. He walked over and sat on his step-brother's bed, patting the spot next to him so that Clyde could sit next to him. He did so, sitting next to Eric and leaned against him, starting to silently cry. He could feel a pudgy arm wrap around him and rub his shoulder comfortingly. 

Eric was never good with words or comforting people at all. It was worth a god damn try though so he could get back to his call. "Sorry for snapping at you Clyde, I didn't mean to." He sighed, waiting for Clyde to nod before continuing. "Tell me who or what made you cry, I'll tell the Coon to kick their ass!" He growled, not realizing he was tightening his grip on Clyde until he felt the smaller wince. Eric thought he was gonna have to attempt an apology (aka calling Clyde a wuss because his body wouldn't allow him to say sorry twice in the span of a day) but cut himself off as he heard a quiet laugh. 

"Tell.. Tell the Coon that he doesn't have to hurt anyone, Mosquito's orders. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway." Clyde sighed, telling the story of what happened to prove to himself more than anything that the incident wasn't anything major. Eric saw the ending of the incident happen so he already knew what the kid looked like, but he didn't want to tell Clyde that. He also didn't want to tell Clyde that he was plotting revenge in his mind, knowing that the latter would stop his plans. Feeling an awkward atmosphere claim the room, Eric realized that he didn't reply and left Clyde in a bad state of mind. 

"O-Oh.. well that sucks." Eric managed to reply, not sure what to do next. He felt overwhelmed when Clyde put more body weight against Eric to get comfortable, so he did what his instincts told him; push away. He didn't mean for the shove to be so rough and he wanted to apologize, but he couldn't. So he did what he would do with anyone else: insult. 

"Alright you pussy, now stop crying like the baby you are so I can get back to my call!" Eric quickly exited and slammed the door shut behind him, not wanting to look at Clyde's reaction. 

When Eric got back to his room, he realized in horror that he didn't mute his microphone. It was confirmed that his friends were listening to him and Clyde because he could hear Kyle say, "Wow, I didn't know that you could be nice to anyone!" With Stan adding, "Honestly though! Did Kenny give you weed earlier today? Like.. what the actual fuck just happened?" and of course Kenny's muffled laughter was heard right after that. 

Clyde just sat on his bed, stunned in silence. It was broken when he heard Eric shout, "GOD DAMNIT YOU GUYS!!" The sudden outburst caused Clyde to laugh, causing Eric shout again saying, "SHUT UP CLYDE!!" One could say that the recently sad boy had changed his mood for the better.

\- -

"Alright you guys, I need your help on finding out who this asshole is." Eric sighed, opening up Instagram to begin a lazy search. "You need help finding an asshole? I know one and his name is Eric Cartman." "God damnit Kahl, this is serious! Now I need your Jew brain on figuring out this guy's name and address." He groaned, pinching his nose in annoyance. Eric was satisfied when he heard the clicking of computer keys not long after though. 

Stan was scrolling through twitter when he boredly added to the conversation, "What does this dude even look like? Kyle wouldn't be able to find the guy without knowing what to look for." Kenny piped up and you could hear the smirk in his voice. "Does the dude have a nice body? Did you get a look at his ass?" Eric loudly groaned, "Shut up you horny bastard! This kid has short, jet black hair and was wearing a blue hoodie with black skinny jeans." The other line was quiet for a moment until Stan spoke up. 

"Are you describing Craig?" He asked, a small bit of shock in his voice. "No you dumbass, if it was Craig then I would have beat his ass right then and there!" It took a lot out of him to not call Stan even more of an idiot as he wanted to hurry up this investigation. "I know it wasn't Craig because this dude was short and wore pastel pink shoes, which the tall asshole we know would never wear. Plus, this kid isn't lean like Craig is." 

The call was quiet for a minute before Kyle started muttering information to himself. "If this is the right guy, then his name is Ryan Beasley and he lives to the left of your old house. Let me send you a few pictures I found to make sure it's the right guy." Eric opened the chat the four boys shared and sure enough it was the right guy. "You and your god damn Jew brain.." He mumbled, not daring to say thanks. 

The call continued for another 15 or so minutes before Eric could hear footsteps heading towards his room. He said his quick farewell (which was "oh shit, bye") and put his phone on the nightstand before turning off his lights. He didn't want to be caught being up past his bedtime because he knew it was result in his phone being taken away (which sucked ass, obviously!)

When Roger peeked his head in, he raised an eyebrow at his step-son. There was talking coming from in here, right? He swore that there was, but the sight in front of him proved otherwise. 

Eric mentally cheered to himself when he heard a sigh of defeat and the click of his door closing. He was in the midst of throwing a party in his head when he heard a whine coming from the room next to his.

"But dad!" Clyde whined, looking up at his dad. "No buts Clyde, if you needed help with your work then you should have asked earlier. It's 30 minutes past your bedtime and I need to get up early tomorrow morning, I don't have time to talk about this." Clyde decided to break out the puppy dog eyes, pouting the slightest bit. Roger couldn't help but give in. "Alright fine Clyde, what were you working on?" He sat down on the bed and pat the spot next to him, much like Eric did earlier. Clyde moved himself to sit next to his dad, pointing to the problem he was stuck on. One problem doesn't sound bad, but of course it had to be one of those multi-step problems that took forever to do.

Eric listened in on the conversation, surprised to find out that Clyde wasn't on his phone but instead working on his schoolwork. Eric would have loved to listen to a multi-step math problem being worked out (note: sarcasm) but he was busy with something else. He was trying to get his excitement under control. It had been a good month since he had planned something like this and he was happy to have a reason to do break into someone's house instead of it being out of boredom. 

When he heard footsteps pass by his room for the second time, indicating that Clyde and Roger were finished, Eric had to stop himself from running to his closet and pull out his coon costume. Once he was in his new wardrobe, he snuck out of his room and walked to Clyde's room. Opening the door ever so slightly, he peeked in to see if Clyde was awake. Every time Eric was about to do one of his schemes, he always checked to see if his step-brother was awake. 

The last time he forgot to check on Clyde, he was caught attempting to sneak out of the house which caused the brunette to give the other the silent treatment for three days, that stubborn prick! Eric hated it because it was hard to tease Clyde and get under his skin, meaning he had to pick on Kyle twice as hard. Eventually Clyde started talking to him again because Kyle begged him to (though Eric didn't know that, Clyde said that his reason for talking again was that Roger made him or else he was gonna be grounded, causing Eric to laugh in his face.) 

Luckily Clyde was sound asleep, loosely curled in on himself with drool rolling down to his pillow. Some people thought it wasn't a pretty sight to see someone drool on themselves, but Eric wasn't exactly the most pretty sleeper so he couldn't judge. At all. He shut the bedroom door a bit louder then he would have liked and made his way downstairs to the front door, leaving with a smirk on his face. Now time to make his way towards this douche Ryan's house. 

It was an easy journey as Eric knew exactly where he was going. Like come on, he lived next to the house for almost all his life. Once he reached his destination, he picked the front door lock with ease, having done it multiple times. Finding the room was easy too as there were signs on each bedroom door upstairs. But first he needed to take care of something else. He walked into the parent's room and pulled out his bat from his bag he packed earlier, effortlessly knocking the two out cold. Next was his main target.

Eric was now inside Ryan's room and he decided to look around. It was very typical with posters, a few plushies, and an Xbox 1. Oh perfect! He knew exactly what he was going to do. Sneakily making his way towards Ryan, he stopped and slapped the kid across his face. Of course the kid was startled awake and upon seeing the stranger, he started to scream. Eric laughed. "You fool! Your parents are knocked out cold for a few hours and if you don't want the same treatment then I advise that you listen to me, okay?" He put on his coon voice, trying to look as intimidating as possible. All Ryan could do was nod. 

"Good!" He wickedly laughed and slowly walked his way towards the kid's Xbox 1. "You remember the kid you called a dumbass yesterday? Well if you don't apologize and leave him alone then I'll bash your head in, you got it? Only I can say mean things to him, okay?" Eric got his bat and hit the Xbox a few times, not even giving Ryan a chance to reply. "Sucks that I had to break the best console out there, but it's what you get for picking on Clyde. I assume I have scared you enough to apologize and leave him alone so I shall now take my leave." And with that, Eric left. He could hear Ryan crying and it made him feel good. 

When Eric got home, he was exhausted and ready to sleep. Sadly life has other plans in mind. Walking into his house, he was greeted by the sight of an angry Clyde. Uh oh. "What the fuck were you doing this time? You need to stop sneaking out and causing trouble, it's frustrating as hell! I was sleeping just fine until you woke me up by you closing my door, oh my god!" Clyde fumed, eyebrow twitching with anger. Angry Clyde was not a good Clyde. 

It took a second for Eric to reply. "Did Kyle give you the sand in his vagina and put it in yours instead? Calm down asshat and go back to bed, you're losing your beauty sleep and you're gonna be even more ugly then you are." Yeah, maybe another second would have been good to have to think of another reply. Eric was too embarrassed to admit that he was out of the house to confront the person who made Clyde sad. There's no way the brunette could know about his actions! If the other knew how much he was cared for by his step-brother then he would never hear the end of it! 

Angry tears were falling rapidly down Clyde's faintly red cheeks. "Fuck you Eric, fuck you!" He stormed upstairs, still trying to be somewhat quiet as to not wake up their parents. It was amusing to watch, angry Clyde trying to be quiet. Eric shrugged, feeling a twang of guilt but choosing to ignore it. He head upstairs and before he entered his own room, he stopped outside Clyde's bedroom and heard him crying. He felt awful, but he chose to ignore the feeling as well as he made his way to bed for good. 

\- -

The next morning, Eric could see the anger radiating off of Clyde. Eric being Eric, he decided to push how far he could go. "Hey sandy va-" he was cut off by a death glare that screamed 'don't you dare' and a middle finger. "You hang around Craig too much, my god." He sighed, knowing that if he tried to comment on anything else that he would get a punch to the gut that would hurt like hell.

The walk to the bus stop was filled with silence, Eric not daring to speak just yet. The anger was still too strong from Clyde. 

(Ok pretend that along with the main four + clyde that craig is also at the bus stop)

As the step-brothers arrived at the bus stop, Clyde immediately moved as far away from Eric as he could. Craig picked up on it and the anger so he sent the pudgy boy the same glare and middle finger that Clyde gave 30 minutes ago. Eric returned the gesture. 

Stan, Kyle, and Kenny picked up on it as well and were confused as to why Clyde was angry. What the hell happened last night? Kyle finally decided to speak up. "Ok, someone explain to me why the fuck Clyde is so pissed off." The boy in question spoke up immediately after. "Eric decided to sneak out of the house again and he knows that I hate it when he does that! It's just.. he even woke me up before he left and I bet he did it on purpose, that asshole! Whatever he did I'm probably gonna get roped into it just because we're step-brothers and I live with him!" He groaned, one of his hands grabbing onto Craig's arm to steady himself.

Kyle tried to clear the misconception by starting off with, "Oh no, Cartman snuck out because-" but before he could finish, he was cut off by the voice Clyde didn't want to hear. "-Because I know how much you hate it and I wanted to get under your skin, haha! Looks like it worked, I mean come on, you can't shut the fuck up about last night." Eric looked away, forcing himself to not feel guilty. Stan and Kyle were completely taken aback by the outburst but did not say anything while Kenny understood in a way. The feeling of protecting a sibling but not wanting them to know about it. Because Kenny was the only one not appalled by Eric, he turned to the confused and pissed off Craig and mouthed to him "I'll explain in a bit."

On the bus, Kenny sat next to Craig and explained the situation, leaving out the part about his own sister though. Craig sighed, shaking his head. "God damnit dude, he's so fucking stupid." While the two were talking, Token was sitting next to Clyde and let the brunette lay against him while sharing his part of the story. Token ran his fingers through Clyde's hair, knowing that it helped calm him down. Being the mom friend, you must know what calms your friends down. 

The bus arrived at the school and all the students got off and went their separate ways. 

\- -

Clyde was nervous about going to math. He didn't want to be made fun of plus the class made him feel really dumb. Luckily the class was over in a breeze and he even got the answer right when he was called on! It was turning out to be a good day until he saw the same mean kid from yesterday approaching him. Clyde was about to walk away until he noticed the kid shaking in fear. What the hell?

"H-Hey uh.. sorry about.. yesterday! I-I didn't mean it! You're uuh.. You're really smart and I was just.. jealous? Yeah! Sure. Ok s-so I won't ever bother you e-ever again!" Before Clyde could say anything, the kid ran off. Clyde was so confused by why the kid was so scared, but he did get an apology. He looked around to see if there were any onlookers and luckily there weren't- wait. Is that Eric?

Once they made eye contact, Eric's smug face looked away and turned a bit flustered. Clyde was getting even more confused until it clicked. Eric snuck out last night and the next day, the kid came by and gave a terrified apology. It all makes sense now! Eric wasn't trying to cause havoc, he was trying to help in his own way! His own, weird way, but it still did the trick! 

Clyde made his way over to Eric and gave him a hug, smiling happily while saying 'thank you' over and over. Eric was about to push the other away due to his flustered state but he fought against himself and hugged his step-brother back, smiling in the smallest bit that hopefully nobody could see. 

Using the correct emotions and actions at the right time was never something Eric could get the hang of and most of the time it would bite him in the ass. There were always those few moments though when things seemed to turn out okay. Even though Eric liked to make Clyde pissed off and loved to tease him, he also loved to see him happy, and that's what he was right now. His smile grew just the tiniest bit but vanished as soon as he was blinded by a flash. He turned to the source and found Kenny holding his new phone while smirking, knowing that the other was taking a picture. 

"KENNY!!"


	2. Kitchen Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Liane and Roger are at their respective jobs so they leave the boys in charge of making dinner. Chaos endures. They are aged up to 13 years old.

Clyde got a text from his step-mom asking him to make dinner for the four of them. He loudly groaned from his place on the couch, leaning back on the cushion. The action caught the attention of Eric. "What has your panties in a wad?" He questioned from his spot in the kitchen, turning to look at his step-brother. "Liane wants us to make dinner but I don't wanna! You do it Eric!" Clyde looked over, completely serious. 

"Nuh-uh! No way in hell, only women cook!" Eric fought back using what he called 'obvious logic.' "Alright alright, let's settle this with rock paper scissors, ok? First one to win gets to not cook!" Clyde started with the three magical words, already set on what he was going to pick. The boy in the kitchen always picked rock, so when Clyde put down paper and won, he smirked. "Have fun making dinner!" "Whateveh!"

After Eric got a text back from Roger to make baked chicken he sighed. Of course it was baked! Ever since Roger became his step-father, his eating habits were modified. Healthy this, healthy that! It sucked ass! Eric got the chicken out from the refrigerator and saw that it was alright thawed out. Now that he was about to start, how was he supposed to go about it? Asking Clyde was out of the question as his pride wouldn't let him ask for help so he decided to google it instead. It couldn't be that hard, right?

\- -

"Alright I texted Liane and told her to be prepared for garbage because you're making dinner." Clyde laughed when he got a hand towel thrown at him. "Shut up Clyde, I know what I'm doing!" Eric groaned, trying his best to ignore his annoying step-brother poking fun at his poor cooking. It was hard though as the other was being so boastful about it. "Dude I bet you wish you could play Red Dead Redemption with me but guess what! Haha you loser, guess who gets to relax- wait what the fuck, are you burning something?" Clyde immediately shot up and ran into the kitchen, hurriedly putting on an oven mitt and taking out the darkening chicken. 

"Eric? What were you trying to do?" Clyde signed, running his fingers through his hair in a stressed manner. "Well I didn't want to ask your smartass for help, you would probably be so proud of yourself that you would shit confetti out of your ass!" Eric groaned, eyebrows furrowed in anger and frustration. "Whatever, okay, let's fix this before you fuck it up even more!" Clyde said with determination, fire in his eyes. 

First he got out a knife and cut away the burnt pieces on the outside, being careful not to cut too much off. "So the meat seems to be almost done already because you cooked it at such a high temperature, way to go!" Clyde said in a passive-aggressive tone while discarding the pieces he cut off. Eric just watched in mild amusement, keeping quiet for once. "Having just chicken seems so boring so I'm gonna make a Mexican dish out of it. Alright so I'm gonna combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into a bowl and put your monstrosity of chicken into it, then I'll cook it a bit longer." And Clyde did just that.

After a good 30 minutes or so, the Chicken tacos were done and they looked delicious. "Where did you learn to cook like this? Roger isn't exactly the best chef around so.." Eric paused, taking in a deep breath. "Wait, have you been spending time with my mom without me knowing about it?" He fumed, his protectiveness of his mom showing. "No, you asshole! First of all she's the mom to both of us now and second, I learned from Token. Remember when we like.. when you first moved in and we hated each other and got in fights? I spent a lot of nights over at Token's house and he taught me a lot of things, including how to cook.." Clyde looked away, cheeks flushing a bright red as he started to talk about Token. Eric raised an eyebrow but before he was able to question the brunette, the door opened and in walked Liane with a pleased look on her face.

"Oh sweetie, it smells delicious in here!" She beamed, walking into the kitchen to find a smirking Eric and a flustered Clyde. It was best not to question. "I'm so proud of you Eric, even taking into consideration what your step-brother likes!" Before Clyde could interrupt and say that he was actually the mastermind behind this amazing dish, Eric cut him off while batting his eyes in a childish manner. "Thank you mama, I worked really hard on it even though Clyde didn't think so. He made fun of me and my work and said that I wasn't doing it right.." The overweight male made his bottom lip quiver and somehow made his eyes tear up.

Liane bought into it. "Oh my poor baby, Clyde apologize to him!" She hugged her son, patting his back affectionately. Eric flipped off his pissed off step-brother when they were hugging. "N-No wait! I was the one that made them, I promise! He.. He's lying to you, Liane!" Clyde desperately tried to plead. Eric immediately fired back. "No mama! You see, Clyde.. H-He made fun of me and he.. he just stayed in the living room and he played Red Dead Redemption without meeee!" Clyde sighed, knowing that Eric wasn't completely making everything up. Of course he wouldn't say that out loud but still! 

"Nonono Liane please, you have to believe me!" Clyde was whining at this point, trying to ignore the mocking gestures from his current enemy. "Then why did you text me that Eric was making dinner, hun?I'm sorry but I can't have my child lie to me, I know that your father has taught you better. For lying, you shall have to make dinner for the family for the rest of the week. You also still need to apologize." Clyde's mouth opened and closed as he tried to come up with a response. "But-! I- No wait!" He was about to continue until he got a stern look from Liane and he immediately shut up. "I'm sorry Eric." Clyde sighed, looking away. 

With those words from the sad brunette, eric cheered. "Heh heh heh heh heh heh! You have to make us dinner! For the rest of the week!" Eric poked Clyde on the cheek, then proceeding to ruffle the other's hair much to the protesting. "Don't act so pissy! Have your boyfriend pull the stick out of your ass and then you'll feel better, okay?" Eric snickered, seeing Clyde's face heat up. "Token isn't my boyfriend, don't say things like that! He's only my cru-" The brunette tried to calm himself down, knowing that Eric was looking for a reaction. He said too much. "Oh my god, you like Token? This is too much!" Eric had the biggest smirk on his face, knowing he had made Clyde beyond embarrassed. "I.. shut up shut up shut up shut-" Clyde ran up the stairs, face red in his hands as he yelled the same two words over and over until he reached his room. 

Eric laughed, turning to his mom to see her reaction. Turns out Liane was too occupied with her food and wasn't listening. Clyde would probably be happy to hear that. Clyde would also be happy to hear that his step-brother noticed the way Token looked at the brunette, admiring eyes at the smallest things. Even if they were stupid jokes that weren't funny at all! Eric would never tell him though. Those two had to figure out that they liked each other on their own time. No matter how stupid Clyde could be, Eric knew that his step-brother could pick up on the obvious clues. Well, maybe. Clyde was pretty fucking stupid sometimes.


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clyde has a nightmare. Enough said. //13 y/o

Clyde shot up with a gasp, bringing his knees to his chest and hugs them close. What time even was it? Clyde looks over at his clock on his nightstand to see that it was 3AM on the dot. Perfect timing to wake up from a nightmare, right? He tucks his head down and lets out a quiet sob, trying to push out the haunting thoughts. 

\- - -

It was terrifying. Things were happening way too fast. "But she's not gonna die, is she?" I asked, concern heavy in my voice. When my dad, the fireman, and the medic turned around and looked at me I just knew that things were never going to ever be the same again. 

"Clyde- CLYDE!" I ran over to my mom in a panic. "Clyde, I want you know I don't blame you for this." Mom twitched in the toilet, face screaming that she was in unbearable pain. "We should have been h-h-harder on you all those times you left the toilet seat up." Her voice cracked at the end. "Mom, I'm sorry!" I cry out as I try to hold myself together. "Shh! Shh-shh-hh.. I don't.. have a.. lot of t-time, Clyde. Just- please- put the- toilet seat- down- from- now on for- your- sister's- sake- pleASE! OH- GOD! PLEASE- LET ME GO- LET ME GO! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" 

The sounds of my mom screaming numbed me. I couldn't cry, I was just so shocked as it was all happening so fast. What broke the numbness away was seeing my mom's body jerk violently as she drew her last breaths. I had my hands balled up to my chest nervously as the body came to rest. "Mom?" 

\- - -

Oh wait. That wasn't a nightmare. It was a flashback. 

\- - -

It wasn't working, Clyde was seeing it all too vividly again. The.. flashback he had was all too much. When he tried to push the memories away, they only forced their way back stronger and brought bruises as a bonus. The thoughts were too consuming, fight back fight back! With another broken sob, Clyde was consumed by his past.

\- - - 

It was court day and Sir Harrington was supposed to be getting sued by the lawyer who helped me, Stan, Kyle, and Jimmy get in touch with the afterlife in the first place. Things started off as okay until-

"Clyde? Clyde.." I look up and see the disheveled ghost of my mother. Wait, what? "Mom?" I question in astonishment and I can sense the surprise from both Stan and Kyle that are sitting on both sides of me. 

"This lawyer is a fraud. He has been swindling you and your friends for your money." I hear the lawyer in question mutter something but I can't focus on anything else but the ghost of my mom. "You can't sue the dead, Clyde. Putting the toilet seat down is a matter of SIMPLE! ETIQUETTE!" As soon as I see my mom's face turn into one of anger, I cowar in toward myself in the smallest bit. "IT'S COMMON SENSE, CLYDE!" At this point I hear my now step-brother say "Oh boy, here we go," and I can't help but nod to that. 

"Don't try and blame mommy's death on anything but YOUR FAILURE TO DO SOMETHING I ASKED YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO DO." The anger radiating was terrifying. Why was this happening? It was all building up, all eyes on either me or my ghost mom. 

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" My mom roars and I almost break. My eyes are wide and my fists are balled up at my sides like they were when the.. incident happened. It's my fault. "Now, hold on just a second!" Someone says but I don't really care. How could I care when I was just told by my dead mother that I was the reason for her death! I watch the court go into discussion about the toilet but it all goes over my head. It's my fault. It's all my fault. It's my fault I killed her there's blood everywhere oh god it's all my fault it's my fault it's my fault it's my-

\- - -

"Clyde! Son, are you okay?" And with that, Clyde is broken free. He leans forward and clutches onto his dad for dear life, loudly sobbing into his chest. What he didn't notice was Liane slowly walking in and Eric standing in the doorway with a small hint of concern on his face. "Daaaad!" Clyde wailed, sitting up to look at Roger in the eyes. "I killed her! It's all my-" "Clyde, this is not and will never be your fault, okay? Your mother was just.. a bit hot headed. She let her anger take over but I know that she is still looking out at us from above.." They both look out the window, Clyde leaning against his father again like it's routine and slowly relaxes against him, his mind calming down. 

Eric and Liane shared a look of confusion. Why did it seem so natural to them? Does Clyde have episodes like this that only Roger knows about? Liane takes a step forward and gently places her hand on Clyde's shoulder and attempts to calm him down. "While you have a mommy that is looking down at you from above, don't forget that you have a mommy that looks up at you as well.." She smiles a warm smile to the two staring out the window. It only grows when she feels a small hand over her own. "W-Well.. I hope that both moms know that I love them a lot a-and that I appreciate them a lot." Clyde mumbles, surprising both Roger and Liane. Liane almost cries over how cute and touching that is but professionally holds herself together. 

Eric watches in some annoyance. Normally if he threw a fit like this then he wouldn't get this kind of attention! He was definitely a bit concerned at first but now it was getting ridiculous. The brunette cries a lot, why is this time any different? It annoyed the hell out of Eric and he wanted to know what the fuck was going on. Seriously though, things like 'I killed her' and 'it's my fault' were probably just things he thought he did in his nightmare or whatever. 

"Um, excuse my French, but what the fuck is going on here? If it's about some shitty nightmare then just tell him to get over it and be done with it, it's almost 3:30 in the morning and some of us actually want to sleep!" Eric groaned and rubbed his eyes for dramatic effect. He was expecting some snarky remark or offended noise from Clyde but all he got was a broken, "I wish it was just a nightmare.." and it stung all three of them listening. Eric knew that he fucked up, ohhh boy. "L-Look I'm sorry, I just.." Eric tried to apologize but came out short, not really knowing what to say. 

After a minute of silence and thinking, Eric finally pieced together what was going on. The talk of moms, killing and being at fault, the raw tears, it all made sense and Eric felt like the biggest douchebag ever. Roger sighed, causing all heads to turn at him. "Clyde, can I share what is going on?" A few seconds pass before a hum of approval was heard. "The night after Mother's day is when this always happens. First time it happened, he told me that all the mother's day festivities at the school and all of the 'fun stories' he heard started his.. bad thinking. Then it was made worse when a kid um.. walked up to him and asked him what he was doing for mother's day." Roger was about to continue before Clyde cut him off. 

"I told him that I was going to visit my mom's grave. He laughed. Said that she wouldn't want to see her killer. Said that it was only a matter of time before I found a way to murder my dad too." Clyde deadpanned, null of any emotion. His eyes were still staring out the window, gaze unmoving. "We came back from the cemetery. Parted ways with my dad as it was late. I went to bed. Woke up in the next few hours, screaming degrading things at myself without even realizing it. I was sobbing so much that it hurt. Dad came and calmed me down. The.. The same thing has been happening each year. Always the night after mother's day. It's.. getting better though." Clyde closed his eyes, exhaustion slowly consuming him. Eric noticed. "Heeey uh, I think we should leave now?" He gestured towards the sleepy brunette.

Liane nodded, removing her hand and stepping back. Roger got up and Clyde got himself comfortable on his bed, loosely curling into himself. He felt himself grin when a warm blanket was being draped over him. "Goodnight hun, sleep well.." Liane mumbled, leading the three out of the bedroom. They all said their 'goodnight' s and 'I love you' s before walking to their respective rooms. 

Eric stayed up for a bit longer, finding it hard to fall asleep after what he witnessed. What if his step-brother was still awake? What if he was degrading himself again? It was too hard to be still. The overweight male grabbed Clyde Frog and stealthily made his way into Clyde's room. He placed his frog next to his step-brother's head before sitting on the ground, leaning against the bed. Eric tried to convince himself that he was doing this because he was showing pity or wanted something on his nice record for Santa, but it was frustrating how it didn't seem true. Ten minutes had passed and Eric had fallen asleep on Clyde's floor, sprawled out as he would in his own bed. 

Roger and Liane were in their shared bed, laying next to one another. "Clyde has never calmed down this quickly before, do you think Eric made us walk away too soon?" Roger questioned, turning his head toward his wife. "If I'm correct, our little Eric knew exactly what he was doing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I used actual quotes and used the whole episode Reverse Cowgirl as a reference for the flashbacks to make it seem more,, real. I hope it worked ;))


	4. Box of Chocolates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clyde bought a box of chocolates that he was going to woo Token with but when he finds an empty box and a half-assed apology note he forces Eric to help him make some from scratch. Aged up to mid-teens!

Everything was planned out. Clyde had his nice sweater on, fake rose in hand, and all he had left to do was grab the gourmet box of chocolates and leave. He was going to woo Token and they would be dating after this day, it couldn't fail! Craig would be sooo proud of him too! Clyde got on his tiptoes so he could reach the box of chocolates he hid the other day on the top shelf in the cabinet but what he found was something different. Why did the box look slightly damaged? Was it.. opened? He quickly grabbed the suspicious box and saw a note fall to the floor. Clyde quickly dropped to the ground and picked up the note that would hopefully explain the mystery. 

Clyde was frozen in his spot as he read the chicken scratch of a note that consisted of the word 'sorry' with obvious dried chocolate fingerprints on it. Of course, why would his step-brother not eat the chocolate that obviously wasn't for him? Oh no, what was he gonna do now? He needs to be at Token's house in 30 minutes! Clyde fumed in his spot until he saw the culprit walk down the stairs, the overweight male completely unaware that he was found out. 

It wasn't until the two made eye contact that Eric realized. He wanted to say something but before he could mutter out anything, Clyde snapped. "Eric are you crazy? You knew that the chocolate wasn't for you but you decided to eat it anyway because you have no sense of respect and just do what you want! Now I have to be at Token's house in-" He checked the time. "25 minutes but now I can't do it because you ruined this date for me and-" Clyde stopped to catch his breath, hands on his knees as he slouched over. Eric needed a second because wow that was a lot? So he ate delicious chocolates that were supposed to go to Token because Clyde wanted to ask him on a date. Wait.. oh. OH!

Cartman was a bit anxious because he knew that he screwed up badly. Clyde would not shut up about Token so he knew how important this was going to be but guess who ate a key component of Clyde's plan, whatever it was! He forced down those nerves and thoughts as he used his coping mechanism of laughter. "Pfftaha! What, your gay little plan isn't going to work now because there isn't any chocolate involved? How pathetic, and you don't even have a backup plan!" Clyde's facial expression turned from one of anger to bitter sadness. It was getting hard to stay level-headed.

"Okay okay, whatever, but I need chocolate for this to work, ok? It doesn't work without it because it's uh.. part of the pick-up line I'm gonna tell." Clyde awkwardly coughed before continuing. "I would buy another box but I spent all of my allowance money on the box of chocolates. It was pretty expensive because I wanted to get the best kind, you know? A-And I can't ask dad or Liane because I don't want them to know yet." He sighed, looking away with a small blush tinting his cheeks. Completely baffled, Eric just stayed put and nodded. 'What an interesting confession' the boy with the hat thought to himself. 

Clyde sighed to himself a second time before an idea popped into his head. "How about we try to make our own chocolates? We could look up a recipe and hope that we have the ingredients to do so!" He chirped, pleased with his own idea. Eric not so much. "Uh.. yeah have fun with that!" He tried to walk away but his shoulder was grabbed and he knew that this was going to be a disaster as he heard Clyde say, "oh no, you're gonna have to help me."

\- - -

The kitchen was a mess. Cocoa powder was scattered around, honey sticking to the counter, and two distressed boys standing in the middle of it (though one was more distressed than the other). "I can't show up to his house without a box of chocolates! This is the worst, I'll just text Token that I had to cancel plans because of.. I don't know! This is all so frustrating!" Clyde had to stop the tears from running down his face. Not knowing what to do, Eric stayed silent in his place, but the silence didn't last for long. 

15 minutes later, the loud noises of arguing drowned out the sound of someone opening the door. The new male just stared, stunned. First of all, what the fuck? Just.. what? Second, why was Clyde in a sweater? Three, was something burning? "Hey guys! You might want to check in the oven!" He called out, closing the door and hurriedly walking over to the scene. "Token?!" Both step-brothers exclaimed at the same time, the same tone of shock and panic in their voices. 

Clyde put on an oven mit and put the burnt chocolates on the stovetop, sighing in relief that nothing caught on fire. It was disappointing, he was normally good at baking! Chocolate was just too much of a challenge he assumed. "T-Token? Wh..What are you doing here?" Clyde stuttered, mentally cursing at himself for doing so. Token replied with a small smile, "It was way past when you were supposed to come over and I got worried because you're always on time and you weren't answering your phone as well so I thought something was wrong but from what I can see.." Token couldn't help but to laugh. "You seem to be okay. Well, at least decent. What were you trying to bake anyways?" He asked, not picking up on Clyde being completely flabbergasted. 

"I- uh- chocolate?" He spoke in question, a red tint now covering his cheeks. Eric saw this as an opportunity to escape. He quietly snuck his way out of the kitchen to the upstairs out of sight, but he was still listening. Token laughed even more, causing Clyde's cheeks to redden. "You put your chocolate in the oven? Clyde, you never do that. Here, let me show you what to do." With that, Token took over the kitchen. 

It was like watching God's work. Clyde looked on with fascination in his eyes, always loving the way Token looked so magical and peaceful during his careful work. It was beautiful. With the soon-to-be chocolate now over the double boiler, Token took a step back and looked at Clyde with interest. "What, or who, are you making these chocolates for that made you forget about us hanging out? Also what's with that ugly sweater? Green isn't your color, or at least not that shade." Clyde grew red, sticking his hand out to cover Token's face in hopes that his embarrassment wouldn't be seen. It took a lot out of Eric to not burst out laughing. 

"You see- it was- I- Eric- chocolate- um!!" Clyde took a deep breath, looking away as Token cocked a brow. "I had a box of chocolates that I bought for.. someone, but Eric decided it would be a good idea to eat them so I tried to make some instead of buying some more?" He gave a nervous smile, heart beating a million beats per second. Token frowned a bit to himself, turning back to the chocolate. "Who are the chocolates for exactly?" He questioned, a twinge of jealousy in his voice. 

Clyde knew that this question was gonna be asked sooner or later but why did it have to be now!? He wasn't prepared, he needed time! He thought that confessing would be easy so why is he freezing up now? A familiar voice from upstairs whisper-yelled "they're for you." and Clyde echoed. "They're for you!" He bowed his head, realizing what he said after it was too late. Where is his charm? He didn't get number one hottest guy in 4th grade for nothing, god damn it! The panic was too much. He was about to walk away when- 

"Wait!" Token grabbed hold of Clyde's wrist, squeezing it reassuringly. It seemed to do the trick. He turned the double boiler off before tilting the brunette's head upward by his chin. "Calm down, okay? Do you want to try that again?" To anyone listening in, it would sound strange. Token knew it was best though to hit the reset button, best for Clyde and his pride plus self-esteem. 

The other seemed to get the message and walked into the living room to take a breather before walking back in with a fake rose in his hand. The confidence was definitely back. "I did not think that there was anything sweeter than chocolate but here you are~." Clyde tried to give his 'sexiest smirk' but all he could do was smile. He was beaming and Token thought that he wouldn't mind looking at that sight for forever. There was laughter coming from upstairs but neither of them said anything. They were having a moment, after all!

Clyde extended his hand with the rose and Token gladly accepted, walking closer to the brunette with a small blush, but there was confidence in his steps. At first it was a bit awkward, just the two staring into each other's eyes. Clyde knew that he should speak up, but he was lost in the dark night of Token's eyes. It wasn't until Token cleared his throat that Clyde was snapped out of his daze. He didn't know how to start! Was he supposed to give a small speech before asking the important question or was he supposed to just get on with it? The movies are so confusing, some started with speeches and others just got to the point! With all of these bundled up emotions, Clyde did the only thing he could think of. 

It definitely caught Token off guard, but it was something to welcome. Warm, eager lips pressed against his own sent a shiver down both of their spines and Token wrapped his arms around Clyde's waist, dropping the rose in the process. It was amusing too, the brunette not really knowing how to go about it. He thought that Clyde was experienced at least a bit because of him previously being with Bebe, but the female only dated him for discounted shoes so it made sense why they, he assumed, never kissed. Token wanted to take lead but he was patient and let Clyde do what he wanted. 

After a hot minute, Clyde pulled away with a worried expression. "I'm so sorry, was that too much? I didn't mean to do that, it just- it just felt like the right thing to do, you know? That's what they do in the movies, or at least some, so I assumed it would be okay but now I don't know! Token I-" The nervous rambling stopped with another kiss, this time initiated by Token. It was more slow-paced and gentle, much like the taller male's personality. He pulled back not long after "Clyde, that was perfect, and you are perfect. There's no need to panic, okay?" The calming voice always made Clyde melt. The brunette hugged Token, resting his head on the other's shoulder. 

They stayed there for a moment before Token spoke up. "I have to say though, your self-esteem has been going up. Has anyone been helping you?" He questioned, rubbing circles into the smaller's back. "Mhm! I've been getting help from E-" Clyde cut himself off, jolting from the intense death glare he knew was being sent to him from upstairs. "A uh.. a really good friend has been helping me." He smiled, feeling at peace. 

\- - -

BONUS:

Craig and Tweek were sitting in Craig's room, watching Red Racer with Stripe #4 laying on the taller's chest. A loud ringtone of Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds interrupted the peaceful atmosphere, causing Tweek to jump. "What is that ringtone? Whenever someone calls it's just the default one?" He questioned until he saw the contact name "best moron 💀" with a picture of Clyde and Craig at the park. Tweek gave Craig a look and the other looked back with a weak glare. "Never mention this to anyone." 

When he hit answer, he didn't have time to say hi due to the screaming on the other line. "CRAIG? CRAAAAIG!! GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT?!" Clyde practically screamed into the phone, causing Craig to pull his phone away from his ear and frown. Not wanting to risk that pain again, he decided to put the phone on speaker. Tweek let out a small laugh as could hear the loud excitement as well even when it wasn't on speaker phone. "What." Was all Craig needed to say before he got another booming reply. "YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT! TOKEN. SAID. YES!! I'M SOOOO HAPPY! I TOLD YOU THAT IT WOULD WORK OUT!! CRAIG, CRAAAIG-" He was cut off by another monotone response that was hinted with confusion. "What do you mean 'Token said yes'? Did he not ask you out?" 

Now it was Clyde's turn to be confused. "WAit whATT?" his voice cracked, but it was the least of his interests. Tweek explained in a calm tone. "Hi Clyde, congratulations by the way, but Token had bought a giant plush bear and I went over to his house to help him make chocolates the other day for you." It was silent on the other line until there was a scream, startling both Craig and Tweek. "I HAVE TO SEE THIS BEAR, BYE CRAIG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH NO HOMO! GOODBYE TWEEK I ALSO LOVE YOU NO HOMO! tOKEN-!" 

The call ended, leaving a proud best friend and a confused friend behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing this part so much!! I'm sorry tho that these all seem to be Clyde centric, he's my favorite character + I like writing myself into his character a small bit so it he's OOC then I apologize again :'))

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! I love the idea of these two being step-brothers so I decided to explore the idea. Also this is published on wattpad @ friendly-bee :))


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